Effects of the drying method for flowers of Cynara cardunculus var. Altilis on milk coagulating properties

In the production of some traditional cheeses from vegetable rennet, raw extracts of Cynara cardunculus flowers are used as the coagulant. During the preparation of this rennet, there are many factors that can influence its coagulation activity. We studied the flowers of Cynara cardunculus var. altilis to evaluate the effects of some of these factors: ripening stage of the flower at harvest, type of drying, part of the flower subjected to drying, toasting of the pistils, and maceration time of the pistils. The results show that it is possible to improve the coagulation activity of the traditional preparation of Cynara cardunculus flowers through some practices such as the rapid drying of the flowers/pistils at a controlled temperature, the toasting treatment of the pistils carried out after the slow drying of the flowers, and the extension of the extraction time to 24 h.